Like a Flower
by Traitor of All Traitors
Summary: Set sometime after the last episode and ties into "Restoring the Ties". The Spirit Portal in Republic is growing weaker with the passage of time. Why is this so? Read to understand, then review.


Creation began on 02-15-15

Creation ended on 02-16-15

The Legend of Korra

Like a Flower

A/N: It takes place after the last episode of the series. But in addition, this story is also a sequel to the story _Restoring the Ties_.

It had only been a year since the new Spirit Portal was made in Republic City, but for some reason, the man-made construct of spiritual energy started to dissipate. As the months passed by, the light that comprised its appearance dimmed. The majority of the city's populace was concerned about why this was so, so they requested that Korra, the current Avatar, investigate this phenomenon.

"Do you think the past Avatars will have the answer to this?" Asami asked Korra, standing in front of the portal.

"I hope they do," she responded, and crossed the threshold into the Spirit World. _That's strange. Even the sensation feels all wrong._

Entering the meadow of the Spirit World, Korra saw how the environment remained unchanged, but the light generated by the portal was less than bright when it was first created. It seemed like the Spirit World wasn't affected in any way by the phenomenon of the dissipating portal.

"Aang? Roku? Kyoshi? Yangchen? Wan?" Korra called out to her past lives, and they appeared in front of her, manifesting out of blue dust that came from her. "The people of Republic City are concerned with the Spirit Portal. Do you know what is wrong with it?"

"We do not understand what is wrong with the portal," the past Avatar known as Roku expressed.

"This has never occurred with the original portals created by Vaatu," added Yangchen, "but someone you've met before. Someone who is not an Avatar, is most likely to have the answer."

Korra thought back to the previous time she was in the Spirit World, and that was to restore the connection to her past lives. And that was due to the aid of…

"Brother Correction?" She asked them.

"Yes," answered Wan, who pointed towards the blue mountains. "He came back recently…and is waiting for us."

"He knew you would come seeking an answer to why the portal was dimming," said Kyoshi.

-x-

The use of Airbending to travel to the mountains made the trek to see the man that helped restore her connection to the previous Avatars simpler, easy, and Korra a small cave with light inside. She assumed that Brother Correction was waiting for her inside there.

"Hello?" She called out to the inside of the cave. "Brother Correction?"

"Over here, Avatar Korra," a voice replied to her, and she saw a shadow by the light nearby.

Walking deeper into the cave, she went around a corner and saw the spiritual being that didn't belong here, sitting beside a small fire with a teapot steaming with warm water.

"I've been expecting you for some time," he told her, gesturing for her to sit down in front of him.

Korra obliged and picked up an empty cup near her.

"I was told by my past lives that you would know why the Republic City Spirit Portal is the way it is right now," she said to him. "Is this true?"

"I do, but what's happening to the portal is okay," he answered her.

"But it's scaring some of the people."

"It's normal to fear what isn't understood. What's happening with the Spirit Portal is no different from the changing of seasons, or the passing of one life and the start of a new one."

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand."

"That's okay. I'll be blunt. The portal is fading away from existence. Unlike its polar counterparts, this one was made the manipulation of spiritual energies at the hands of mortals, not by a powerful or ancient spirit like Raava or Vaatu. Also, this old poem aids in understanding what is wrong: Flowers wither and lose their color, much as I reflect in vain time lost to the long rain."

As he poured her a cup of tea, Korra repeated the poem in her mind, and saw the similarities to what he was saying to her.

"The portal's like a flower," she expressed, "but one we can't touch, and it will wither away until there's nothing left of it…but a memory."

"That's right," he congratulated her. "And because it's man-made, its place in the world is finite, like Republic City…or even the Four Nations themselves. History credits them with their existence, both past and present, just as history will credit the dying portal with its existence and the impact it has had on the people."

"So…there's no need, whatsoever, to do anything about it?"

"No need at all."

"Thank you."

Korra finished her tea and stood up in front of Brother Correction.

"Take joy in the portal's final months," he told her.

-x-

"…So, the portal's man-made existence wasn't meant to be eternal?" Tenzin asked Korra, as she and the others paid Air Nomad Island a visit.

"That's right," Korra explained with she learned from Brother Correction. "The portal's like a flower. It withers and loses its color, much as we reflect in vain time lost to the long rain."

"So, when the portal disappears…it's gone for good?" Mako questioned.

"That's…sorta saddening," added Bolin.

"Yes, it is…but it wasn't meant to be forever," Asami accepted this saddening fact. "All we can do is accept this as truth and move on. The portal will be around for a few more months before it fades away, so people can still use it to travel to and from the Spirit World, and it's already part of the city's history, so it'll be remembered for as long as the city exists."

-x-

With each passing month that came, Republic City's Spirit Portal grew weaker and weaker, smaller and smaller until, by the eighth month after the revelation of its fading existence, the portal had diminished to a small circle whose light didn't reach so much as four feet into the air.

"How long do you think it'll be now before it disappears?" Lin Beifong asked Korra.

"I don't know," she responded. "Another month. Maybe another week. For all we know, it could be around for just another few minutes, but forever how long it may be, let's enjoy its presence for as long as possible."

And by the end of the year, the city's portal had disappeared completely, but its trace hadn't been entirely forgotten. The plant growth that had been around since before Harmonic Convergence ended would demonstrate unusual lights every now and then, a sign that the spiritual energies had affected them in the time the portal had been around.

Standing atop one of the bridges leading into the city, Korra breathed in the good air as she recited the poem Brother Correction had recited to her in the Spirit World.

"Flowers wither and lose their color, much as I reflect in vain time lost to the long rain," she recited, taking it seriously as the poem could've been meant to reflect every other aspect of life. "Flowers wither and lose their color, much as I reflect in vain time lost to the long rain."

She herself and others were like flowers, and like flowers that wither with each passing day, they themselves reflect in vain the passage of time withering their bodies. And she knew that Brother Correction had gone through the same experience, as he had been withered, but as he did, he obtained what others older than her obtained with their great age: Wisdom. She didn't have much of it, but in time she would, just as her past lives did.

"A flower in its earliest of times holds great beauty," she expressed, "but a flower that has become withered with time holds great history and wisdom. What we lose later in life will be cherished more because they don't last forever."

Suddenly, the Avatar heard sirens below her as several police cars on the street, chasing after a Satomobile that had been damaged.

"I'd better see if there's anything I can do to help the police," she decided to get involved and opened her glider to catch the air currents to fly after the car chase.

Fin

A/N: Well, there you have it. The Republic City Spirit Portal was like a flower. It wasn't meant to last forever. There are many things the Four Nations that aren't meant to last forever, but only you can decide what they are. Please, read and review. See you later.


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